Number of that Truck
by Quill and Brush
Summary: Sometimes, your day goes great. Nothing goes wrong, you feel great, you're with good people. And sometimes, you get run over by a truck. Metaphorically, of course.
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah, I know, I've got stories that I need to continue, however, I'm still not entirely sure what I'm doing with Trapped or Slate Grey, Hawkes takes a lot of time and concentration, and I'm contemplating rewriting Namikaze Foxes to fix some things that were pointed out in a review, i.e. skipping a lot of parts that are probably very important to the story. So, with all that said, the plot bunnies decided that I was going to do something else and procrastinate AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. I'm pretty good at that anyway, as you probably already know, so the rabbits just make that all the easier. And yes, I realize that this doesn't get too far now, just wait a while, I might get back to this eventually.**

* * *

"Oh my god! I can't believe he said that!"

"I know! And then she said yes!"

The two girls then broke into giggles, making me smile. We were in my car on the way into town after dinner at a restaurant in the country. My girlfriend, Zoey, was in the seat next to me, turned around in a not very safe way to talk to her best friend, Sophie, who was in the back seat. The two of them had gotten together to work on a project for one of their classes and had invited me to tag along. Don't blame me, I like hanging out with my girlfriend, and it's an excuse to get good food.

After their fit of giggles died down, there was a short silence before Sophie spoke up. "Can you guys believe that storm we had last night?"

"No," Zoey gasped. "It was so loud and lasted all night. I barely slept at all!"

"There was a storm last night?" I asked.

They both stared at me. "How could you not notice, Will?" Sophie asked. "My house was shaking last night."

I cocked an eyebrow. "I guess I slept through it. It was raining when I went to bed last night, but it didn't wake me up."

The two girls sighed before going back to gossiping about things and ignoring me.

None of us noticed the clouds gathering over the car or the occasional flash of lightning between them. But we all noticed the clap of thunder before we blacked out.

* * *

The next thing I remembered, I was groaning in discomfort. There was a little bit of pain, but mostly a dull ache, and I felt like I hadn't slept or moved for a week. "Did anyone catch the number of that train?"

A voice that I didn't recognize brought me from my self-pity. "I'm sorry?"

I cracked an eye open, anticipating bright light and was not disappointed. After waiting for my eyes to adjust, I looked around. I was in a hospital room. And everything looked… odd. Even the woman standing next to the bed looked off, and not only because of her odd style of dress. After a moment, I noticed she was staring at me, so I shook my head and waved her off.

She smiled disarmingly and asked, "How are you feeling?"

I had gone back to studying the room and almost missed the question, but replied with "Tired, sore…" I trailed off and kept trying to figure out what was wrong with everything, but was drawn from my musings by a low growling. The woman, who I assumed was a nurse, giggled. I smile sheepishly. "I guess I'm hungry, too."

The woman smiled. "We expected as much. You've been out for several days, at least." She walked over to a fridge in the corner and pulled out a tray with various foods. I saw an apple, something that looked like cubed steak, and a bowl of rice. I sat up in the bed and she placed the tray across my lap. I cracked the chopsticks and began eating as fast as I could with my limited experience using chopsticks. After I had slowed from my feeding frenzy and began eating at a somewhat normal pace, the nurse spoke up. "Now that that's out of the way, I need to ask you a few questions. Physically, you're as fit as you can be for someone who's been out for a while, but we need to make sure nothing is wrong mentally. So," she paused a moment, as if trying to figure out how to begin. "My name is Momoka Takenawa. What's yours?"

"Momoka," I muttered. "Pretty name. Something along the lines of… peach blossom?" She blushed faintly at the compliment before giving me a look, so I stopped wracking my brain about the fact that I didn't know that there was a prominent population of Japanese origin in the area. "My name is William Wexler. The seventh."

I was met with a blank stare and a "The seventh what?"

"The seventh of my name." When she didn't get that, I continued. "You know, I'm William VII, my father was William VI, his father was William V, so on and so forth." At seeing she still had no comprehension, I sighed. "Never mind. My name is William Oswald Wexler VII. It's a family name. I've been called anything from William to Billy to Seth to B-Dub. Call me what you will."

After a moment, the nurse nodded. "Okay, William. Next question. Where do you live?"

"Smithfield." More silence and confusion. I sighed. "I live in Smithfield, North Carolina. About thirty minutes southeast of Raleigh." Not getting a response, I continued. "Seat of Johnston County? On the Neuse River? Junction of I-95 and 70 Business? Zip code 27577?" After a confused staring contest, I sighed again. "Where am I?"

"You're in the First Memorial Hospital in the Leaf Village."

I stared at her for a moment. _'The Leaf Village? Where have I heard of that before?'_ After another stare-off, and a few thoughts, my eyes widened in realization. I quickly pinched myself. _'Ow, I didn't think it was, this feels too real.'_

Once I finished my thoughts, I looked back up to see that I was alone in the room… Or at least there was no one in sight. Now that I was _fairly_ sure that I was in the Elemental Nations, I was aware that there might be ninja in the shadows, but that didn't faze me at the moment. So, I settled in to wait for someone to return.

After several minutes, the nurse returned with a man, a tall, long-haired blond wearing dark colors. The blond gestured the nurse forward and she walked up to the side of my bed. "Now," she began. "We're going to continue our questioning. What do you do?"

I paused for a few moments, putting together the response that would answer the most questions. "I'm a student. I go to JCC fulltime. I also work part time at a small store."

The nurse gave her companion a look that I took to mean something like _'See, I told you I wasn't crazy.'_ I assume she told the man that I was spouting nonsense, and he didn't believe her. He did now, however, and nodded at her. This only confirmed my suspicions. They had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

The blond man walked up to my bed and began speaking to me. "Hello, William. My name is Inoichi."

_'__How did I not see that coming?'_

"I am the local expert on psychology and all other things involving the mind. I have been called in to check your head for any signs of brain damage, head trauma, or insanity." He said all this with a calm tone and what I assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile. The context, however, made it rather frightening. "Now," he continued, "I'm going to do something that will let me check on your mental health. It might feel a little strange at the beginning, but it should go away quickly." His hands blurred for a few seconds, before his hands glowed a slight green. I was so entranced by the display that I didn't even flinch away when he placed his hands on either side of my head, the first two fingers of each hand on my temples.

He was right, my head started tingling as soon as he made contact. We sat there for a few minutes, me staring at his closed eyes, before he backed off. He looked at me for a moment, declaring to the nurse "I can't find anything wrong. There isn't any physical damage, and there were none of the usual signs of mental instability. I'll need to do a more thorough examination, but he seems fine." He stood up and began towards the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check on the other two that came in with him."

He left, and the nurse smiled at me. "Two others?" I asked.

"Yes," she responded. "One of our teams found you and two girls your age unconscious off the path just outside of the village. They were in similar condition, no physical injuries, and they woke up at about the same time you did."

My eyes widened to nearly comical proportions. "Zoey!" I exclaimed, jolting up into a sitting position. However, the nurse stopped me from jumping out of the bed to run toward my possibly injured girlfriend.

"Whoa, now," the nurse began, pushing me back down. "I told you that they are both in the same condition as you are, and you're physically fine."

"Yeah," I responded, still struggling ineffectively. "But that doesn't mean she's okay." _Man, this nurse is really strong._

The nurse gave me a look. "If you stop struggling, we can talk about it."

I very quickly stopped. "Yes, ma'am."

The nurse giggled a little. "You two must be close."

I shrugged slightly. "We're dating."

She smiled. "Aren't you a little young to have a girlfriend?"

I looked at her funny. "I'm nineteen. Why would that be too young?"

At this, she returned my funny look. "You're not nineteen."

"What are you talking about?" I returned. "I know how old I am."

She continued giving that look as she stood and cross the room. She entered an attached bathroom and quickly returned with a handheld mirror. "I'm not sure what's going on in your head, but you are physically twelve."

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, gawking at the sight of my face that hadn't been my face for several years… with that same kind of odd quality about it. It was at that moment that I realized that my voice had been much higher than it had been before I woke up here. I then took the time to examine the rest of myself and noticed that I still had the athletic body I had gained playing football in high school, it was just… younger. _'Weird...'_

The nurse broke me out of my stupor after a short time. "You don't seem to be mentally unstable, you seem to have been telling the truth, and there are no physical reasons for you to be kept here, so the two of us are going to see your friends, and then we'll figure out what to do from there. Sound good?" She smiled broadly at me, just a little too sweetly.

"Um, sure," I responded, unsure how to truly respond. She kept the smile on her face as she helped me stand. I stumbled slightly upon standing, but the nurse caught me before I could hit the ground.

"Careful," she cautioned, still wearing that same smile. "Most of your muscles haven't moved in a few days. I might take a little while for you to be back to fighting fit, so take it slow for now." She helped me walk through the door, down the hall, and into another room.

I looked around to find two twelve or so girls, one blonde, one brunette, staring at me in curiosity and slight confusion. I saw the blonde shrink in on herself slightly, _'Must be shy,'_ before the brunette came to her rescue. She drew attention to herself with a shout of "Hey!" before continuing in a slightly more subdued and accusatory tone. "Who are you?"

_'__She acts just like Sophie does when Zoey's uncomfortable.'_ It was then I remembered who it was that we, the nurse and I, were going to see. I stared at the athletic brunette for a moment. "Sophie?" I asked. I watched her suspicion grow for a moment before I saw the blonde's eyes light up. "Zoey?"

Zoey inspected me with hope. "Will?" I nodded and she tackled me, wrapping her arms around my neck and softly sobbing into my chest. I returned the embrace after a moment of shock at both the fact that I had my girlfriend crying in my arms and that I easily caught her, no stumbling or anything. I soon realized that quiet mumbles were mixed in to her sobs. "Oh, thank god, I don't know what I would've done without you."

I brought my hand up to run my fingers through her hair, something she said always helped calm her down. "It's okay, babe, I'm here, and Sophie's here. We're all together and we're all okay and we'll be alright." Sophie joined the hug shortly thereafter, also whispering comforting words, and Zoey's tears slowed.

The moment was ruined by a resounding "Aww…" from the three nurses. "Maybe they really are older than they look." The other two looked at her in confusion. "He told me that he was nineteen and that Zoey is his girlfriend. Plus they all seem a lot more mature than twelve-year-olds should be." The others just nodded.

Sophie backed away slightly, but kept her hands on Zoey's arms. Zoey, however, just burrowed closer to me, not letting me back away. After a moment, she looked up at me with her watery green eyes. "Any idea what's going on?" she asked, still slightly choked up.

"One or two," I whispered into her hair. "But it'd probably be better to talk about it more privately." She nodded, and buried her face into my chest again.

The door opened, drawing everyone's attention. Inoichi stepped in, glancing around. "I need these three," he spoke to the nurses, "and one of you to come with me." He locked eyes with all three of them for a moment. "The Hokage would like to speak to them."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, World and all who inhabit it. Here I am with a new chapter of my most recent story. I could use some kinda feedback. Even if it's just a _'Yo, good job, dude'_ or a _'Dude, this sucks!'_ No flames, though. Those aren't particularly helpful.**

* * *

Inoichi led us to a small room with a relatively large table and five chairs, four around the table and one against the wall. We were directed to the table and sat down, pulling our chairs together, Sophie and I flanking Zoey, who hadn't let go of me yet. Inoichi stepped back outside, the nurse following him. I assumed they were waiting for the Hokage.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Sophie turned to the two of us. "What are we gonna do? I'm not as big a fan of Naruto as you two are, but I still know that it's not every day a trio of orphans meet the village leader."

"So you two figured it out too?" I pondered. "Well, the first thing we need to figure out is how much we wanna try and change things. Do we wanna do our best to not change anything, or do we want to avert every single disaster?"

We sat there for a few seconds, before Zoey said, "There are things that happen that I wouldn't be able to let happen. We can go over specifics later, but we can't stop everything and I can't in good conscience let some things stay the same."

Sophie and I looked at her, then at each other. I nodded and Sophie shrugged. "So how do we go about that?" Sophie asked after a moment.

Zoey fell into thought for a few moments, before turning toward Sophie. "You'll be speaking, we all know that you're the best when it comes to people." Sophie nodded. "Now, we tell the Hokage that we'll need to speak to him in private. Now, we won't lie to him, he'd see it instantly. So we'll give him an edited version of the truth. We're from another world, and we have knowledge of the future. Tell him we've been brought here to make changes for the good of the world." Sophie nodded again. "We'll discuss specifics later. We don't know when we are, so we'll have to ask the Hokage about recent events."

Sophie and I continued staring at her, slightly shocked. _'I've never seen her so serious,'_ I thought. _'It's kinda cute.'_

As if she had heard my thoughts, Zoey blushed and buried her face in my shoulder. Seeing this, Sophie burst out laughing, driving Zoey farther into my shoulder. I smiled at the scene before freezing. _'This feeling. Is this the Hokage's presence? It's so overpowering.'_ Almost instantly, I felt Zoey tense, and several seconds later, Sophie's laughter died. _'No one else has had that kind of presence. Inoichi just set me slightly on edge, and I guess the ANBU were suppressing theirs.'_

We sat like that for several minutes, the overbearing aura washing over us, before the door finally opened. The light from the brighter hallway caused the figure to be silhouetted. To be honest, it was kind freaky. The figure only paused in the doorway for a moment before continuing into the room. Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing the Hokage robes and hat, sat at the table across from us, Inoichi and the nurse following him. The nurse sat in the chair against the wall and Inoichi stood next to her.

"So," Sarutobi began, hands folded on the table in front of him. "Who are you, where are you from, and what were you doing on the road into _my_ village?" He stressed the word 'my' with enough killing intent to cause my heart to skip a beat, Sophie to gasp, and Zoey to whimper into my shoulder.

Zoey's response filled me with something along the lines of righteous fury, although it was more like righteous defiance, so before Sophie could come to her senses, I spoke up. "We don't mean you or your village any harm, but in order to explain further, we need to be in private. Just the four of us."

The Hokage narrowed his eyes. "And what makes you think that I would be willing to be alone with three complete strangers?"

"Surely," I retorted, slightly sarcastically, "the great Third Hokage, the God of Shinobi, wouldn't be afraid of three kids without weapons or chakra."

Inoichi and Sarutobi gasped. "It's true, sir," the nurse spoke up. "When they were brought in, they had so little chakra a civilian should be dead. We assumed that's why they were unconscious, but they woke up before they passed the threshold for a conscious civilian. Either their bodies are used to running on little to no chakra, or they are running on pure willpower right now."

Sophie and I glanced at each other, and her gaze was asking me what I was doing. I shrugged slightly, I really wasn't completely sure, but I knew that if we were to be known that we knew the future, we would be wanted.

Dead or alive.

Probably dead.

The door clicked shut, breaking the two of us out of our stupor, Zoey still buried in my shoulder. Glancing around, I noticed that Inoichi and the nurse were gone and that there were significantly fewer shadows in the room.

Sarutobi sighed, drawing my attention to him. "We are alone now."

"No ANBU?" I asked.

"No ANBU," Sarutobi answered, before his face hardened once more. "Now talk."

"We," I began, "are not from this world." Seeing his deadpan stare, I shrugged. "I don't know how to convince you. The reason we don't have much chakra is because in our home world, there is no such thing. However, our world is much more advanced in technology. Now, as to why we're here. We don't know how, or who, but we were summoned here with knowledge of the future in order to prevent several major disasters from befalling humanity, many of which are centered around, or originate from, the Leaf village."

"Are you saying," the Hokage interrupted, "that _my_ village is the cause of global disaster?"

"Not directly, no," I returned. "However, mistakes made here in both the past and the future cause a ripple effect that, if left unchecked, _will_ bring the world to its knees. Now, would you be so kind as to give us a summary of recent major events so that we can have a timeline as to when we are?"

"I still don't believe you," the Hokage retorted, leveling a glare at me. I, however, was on a roll.

"If you tell us the last major event in the village, then we can give you a little more proof."

Sarutobi sighed, "Well, the most recent major event that would be public knowledge would be the attack of the Nine-Tails. That was just under two years ago."

"See?" I asked. "Now we're getting somewhere." I smiled and leaned forward. "How about your students? What are they up to?"

The Hokage scowled. "Jiraiya is the village's spy master, Tsunade is taking some personal time and training an apprentice." He paused, then sighed. "Orochimaru has defected."

I smiled, trying to be disarming, before leaning across the table to whisper conspiratorially. "And what is the status of Danzo and his Root?"

Hiruzen was instantly towering over me, leaking so much killer intent that Sophie was now whimpering and Zoey was shaking. I, however, had all the defiance I needed. "How do you know about Root?" the Hokage thundered.

"Danzo and his Root play a major part in events of the future," I replied in a calm voice, only sweating slightly. "We are also under the assumption that he is going against you for a significant portion of the coming years."

Hiruzen slumped into his chair, letting the aura of fear and death dissipate. "Fine, say I believe you, what would you have me do?"

"Listen," I replied. "For now, the three of us will need somewhere to stay and something to do. The next major event won't take place for something like ten years. Until then, we need some way to talk to you easily, to pass on news and stuff. That's about as far as I've gotten. Honestly, we've only had about thirty minutes to think about this. The next time-sensitive event is in about a year, so we've got time. At this point, I think my mouth has caught up to my brain, so I'm just rambling." I chuckled a little. "I think I'll stop talking now."

After a moment of thought, and probably trying to sort through my jumble of ramble, the Hokage nodded thoughtfully. "Would you three object to going through ninja training?" He must have seen our stunned faces, or at least mine, because he chuckled. "You all seem to have the physique to be a ninja, and we've had ninja with worse handicaps than not growing up with chakra."

I nodded, it made sense.

"Good, then I'll get it set up so you have an apartment and allowance, and are enrolled in the academy. When you are released from the hospital, I'll have an ANBU pick you up and bring you to my office, where we will discuss further. For now, you will recover here, and do some light physical therapy, just to make sure you've recovered. Okay?"

I slowly nodded, slightly off kilter from the abrupt change in mood. Not five minutes ago, he had been threatening to completely obliterate the three of us. Now, however, I was reminded of my grandfather. '_Weird, wonder if he's bipolar.'_

He clapped once, drawing me out of my musings, and stood. "Well, I best be off. Lot's to do. I'll see you all in a few days." And with that, he left the room, speaking quietly to Inoichi as the two walked away.

The nurse came to us and led us away from the interrogation room. "Wow, Will," Zoey gasped, staring up at me from where she was still clinging to my arm as we were walking down the hallway in the hospital. "How did you do that? I could barely breathe just from his presence, and then he let off that killing intent." Sophie, on Zoey's other side, nodded in agreement, staring at me in awe.

I just shrugged. "I'm not really sure, to be honest. I think it was mostly adrenaline and desire to protect you girls. However," I said as we walked through the door into the girls' room, "I _do_ know that I'm about to pass out."

They were both confused at that, Zoey looking slightly more worried. I just smiled at them.

I was out before I hit the ground.


End file.
